Austria Women 1 v 0 Norway Women

Friday 15th July 2022, Kick-off 20.00
UEFA Wonen’s Euro 2022, Group A
Brighton Community Stadium, Falmer

Admission: £10.00

Programme: £8.00 (covering whole tournament)

Attendance: 12,667

This evening I paid my second visit of the week to what is usually known as The Amex, for a game that would no doubt be rather lower key than Monday’s astonishing encounter, despite having much more riding on the outcome.

Following Monday’s results, this encounter would be a “winner takes all” clash to decide who would join England in the Quarter-Finals and a tie against Germany, although a draw would be sufficient for Austria to progress, as they only lost 0-1 against England compared with Norway’s 0-8 defeat here on Monday. In their games against minnows Northern Ireland, Austria won 2-0, while Northern Ireland won 4-1. History wasn’t on Austria’s side, having not beaten Norway in four previous encounters, and not were the FIFA rankings, with Norway in 11th place whilst Austria were ranked 21st.

Well, Monday’s rather shambolic performance certainly didn’t stir Norway into life, as they put in a very limp display for the most part, with Austria dominating the first half, with Norway only very rarely managing to foray forward. Austria came close to opening the scoring on 15 minutes, when a shot from the edge of the area by Laura Feiersinger went through the keeper’s fingertips, but fortunately for Guro Pettersen, the ball came back off the bar, before being hacked away. But Austria did deservedly break the deadlock on 37 minutes, when Verena Hanshaw’s perfect diagonal delivery into the box was met by a powerful header by Nicole Billa, sending the ball past the keeper’s dive and just inside the right hand post.

Norway hadn’t managed a shot on target throughout the first half, a theme that continued throughout most of the second half, as Austria continued to look far more likely to score. Norway didn’t have their first shot on target until the closing minutes, although Austria were grateful to their hitherto virtually redundant goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger to pull off a great reflex parried save to deny Celin Bizet’s powerful drive, and shortly afterwards she turned away Ada Hegerberg’s close range shot.

But Austria withheld the late pressure to deservedly book a quarter-final tie against Germany, whilst Norway’s performances must be one of the biggest disappointments of this tournament.

England Women 8 v 0 Norway Women

Monday 11th July 2022, Kick-off 20.00
UEFA Women's Euro 2022, Group A
Brighton Community Stadium, Falmer
Admission: £15.00
Programme: £8.00 (covering whole tournament)
Attendance: 28,847

With the Women's Euro 2022 tournament being held in England this summer, I always wanted to make sure to take advantage of watching plenty of competition football on my virtual doorstep. I certainly wanted to take in all of the games being played at my most local host venue, in Brighton, with the added appeal of this game being that I knew that England would be featuring, although I did not who they would be facing at the time of booking last July.

Along with England, Norway, Austria and Northern Ireland were also drawn in Group A, and on paper, it appeared that this match would be England's toughest in the group, with the winners probably going on to win the group. In the FIFA world rankings, England were in eighth place, whilst Norway were in eleventh. Since Sarina Wiegman started her work as England Head Coach in September 2021, England's form has been remarkable, overseeing 14 wins and 2 draws from the 16 games. Having led her native Netherlands to glory at Euro 2017, winning a competition that they hosted, she would be hoping to repeat the trick with her adopted country this summer, and for England to get one better than they reached in each of their last three major tournament finals - the World Cups in 2015 and 2019, and Euro 2017. Norway have traditionally been one of the powerhouses of women's football, winning the World Cup in 1995, the Olympics in 2000, and European competitions in 1987 and 1993. Times have been somewhat leaner in recent years, but still they qualified impressively for this tournament, with a 100% record from their six qualifying group games, and are well on their way to qualifying for the World Cup in 2023, and will seal their place with a win against Belgium in their next and penultimate group game. On their opening games of this tournament, England won 1-0 against Austria, while Norway won 4-1 against Northern Ireland.

On a very warm and sunny evening, this turned out to be one of the most remarkable matches I have ever watched, as far from the close “could go either way” encounter that I was expecting. The first ten minutes were quite even, but the game completely changed when England were awarded a penalty which looked extremely generous, as Ellen White threw herself to the floor after a Norwegian play grabbed her midriff. Georgia Stanway powered the ball into the top left corner, just beyond the keeper’s dive. Three minutes later and England found the net again, Lauren Hemp tapping home from a couple of yards out after Beth Mead rolled the ball across the six yard box, and although the assistant referee signalled offside, the goal was given after a VAR check. White made it three on 29 minutes, showing greater strength to muscle Maria Thorisdottir off the ball, before running forward and then coolly slotting the ball past the keeper. On 34 minutes again White used her strength to win possession of the ball, before passing back to Lauren Hemp, who swung the ball into the box and Beth Mead headed the ball powerfully into the net, brushing the keeper’s hands en route. Mead then showed excellent footwork in dancing past defenders in the penalty area before slotting the ball past the keeper on 38 minutes to make it 5-0, and it really was becoming fantasy football for England on 41 minutes when they scored their sixth, White stretched out a boot to tap in from close range following Fran Kirby’s inviting cross. 

It really was a devastating performance by England, full of energy, high intensity, closing players down and always seeming to be first to the ball and were clinical going forward. They sinply blew the Norwegians away, although it was surprising how their defence was so easily breached time and again. Inevitably, the second half was a little less intense, as Norway finally changed their formation to become tighter at the back. But England still managed to break through and increase their margin of victory. On 66 minutes, Lucy Bronze swung the ball into the box and second half sub Alessia Russo headed the ball home, and on 75 minutes, another sub Alex Greenwood saw a curling shot from just outside the area come past off the bar, but England did score their eighth on 81 minutes when Mead completed her hat-trick, tapping home after Kiera Walsh’s long range shot from just outside the area could only be parried into Mead’s path. 

So an astonishing result for England against a team considered dark horses to do well in this tournament, and the win now ensures that England will top the group regardless of the outcome of their final group game against Northern Ireland and return to Brighton for a quarter final tie, most likely against Spain. Norway will have to win against Austria in their final group game on Friday evening, also at Brighton, to progress. Mention should also be made of the excellent atmosphere in the stadium, loud and positive at all times, without the negative or hostile elements that prevail in the men’s game. All in all, this was a most enjoyable evening, witnessing a barely believable performance and result by the home nation.

St Ives Town 1 v 3 King's Lynn Town

Saturday 9th July 2022, Kick-off 15.00
Pre-season Friendly
Westwood Road, St Ives
Admission: £5.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 175 (rough estimate)

Today I would belatedly make a start on my 2022/23 season of groundhopping, after a bout of mild Covid thwarted my planned trip to Banbury last Saturday, and with no local friendlies being played local to me in midweek, nor feeling the inclination to travel quite a long way for revisits, or well over 100 miles for new grounds (and not feeling inclined to spend nigh on £100 night for a last minute hotel booking). I wanted to make today a decent day out, and although a visit to this venue with its plastic pitch was in some ways wasted on a hot summer’s day, I was sufficiently tempted by the local brewery holding a beer festival at the ground today, along with a hog roast being available.

Having arrived at Huntingdon, the closest train station to St Ives, I then caught a bus for about a half hour journey to the nearest bus stop to Westwood Park, which was then about a ten minute walk away. Plenty of smart and bright signage guided visitors along the path to and around the ground to reach the turnstile block located along one length. The ground has plenty of rustic charm about it, with plenty of old fashioned stands and buildings around. Straddling the half way line on one side is a white clubhouse building, with overhang to the front covering some terracing and a small section of plastic seats, along with some comfy chairs placed along the top row, and with a tea bar window in the back wall on one side, and a door to the clubhouse to the other. Inside is a fairly roomy if dark bar area, and as well as a standard bar area, the casks of ale for the beer festival were located in here today offering a choice of ten ales from the local Papworth Brewery. Both of my choices were very enjoyable - Mad Jack, a chestnut brown bitter, and Fen Skater, a golden pale ale. A separate room usually hosts the hospitality area, but today it was where tokens for the ale and the hog roast could be purchased. To the side of the clubhouse there is a quite a large grassy area behind the pitchside path, with a few picnic tables available, and a gazebo was erected today from where hog roast baps and more traditional fare of burgers, hot dogs and bacon rolls were available. There is just hard standing behind both ends, whilst along the other length, there are three stands. Straddling the half way line is an old fashioned stand with a brick base and three rows of seats, to one side there is a rather charming long and narrow stand made of wood and corrugated sheets covering a flat standing area, whilst to the other side is a modern metallic identikit all-seater stand. These days, St Ives Town only produce e-programmes for their competitive fixtures, and so it was little surprise that nothing was produced for today’s game.

St Ives had another steady season at Step 3 level last season, their sixth consecutive season at step 3, finishing in 14th place in the 21 club Southern League Premier Central Division, although the league table suggests that defence was their Achilles heel, conceding 90 goals in their 40 league games, the second highest in the division. After three seasons in the National League, King's Lynn Town were relegated to the National League North at the end of last season, finishing third bottom in 21st place, nine points adrift of safety.

On a very warm and sunny afternoon, King's Lynn started the game impressively, barely lifting their foot off the gas throughout the first half. In just the second minute, a ball over the top sent Michael Clunan down the right, and he passed low to Gold Omotayo in a central position, but a defender did well to smother the ball away with an excellently timed tackle. But on 7 minutes, the visitors did open the scoring. After Theo Widdrington, son of manager Tommy, had won a free kick, he fired it into the net, perhaps catching the keeper slightly off guard, as he could only palm the ball into the inside of the side netting. And King's Lynn scored their second two minutes later, when Clunan's corner was met by the head of Omotayo, sending the ball into the top right hand corner of the net. St Ives mounted their first meaningful attack on the quarter hour mark, when a header went out for a corner, but that was a rare foray forward for the hosts, and immediately following a drinks break, King's Lynn scored their third. Widdrington sent another ball over the top for Clunan to run onto, and he lashed home a beautiful half volley shot across the keeper and inside the far post. St Ives did come back into the game as half time approached, creating a couple of half chances before they did pull a goal back in added on time at the end of the first half, when the ball was forced home following a goalmouth scramble.

The second half was generally a much quieter affair, perhaps inevitably as multiple substitutions were made, although it remained the visitors who looked more likely to score. On the hour mark, one of the triallists poked the ball against the left hand post, and on 78 minutes, another triallist dinked the ball over the keeper but it dropped just wide of the left hand post, whilst in the 89th minute, Hudson's powerful strike was excellently parried by the keeper, and follow up shots couldn't force the ball home.

This was a most enjoyable day to start my groundhopping adventures of 2022/23, with an entertaining game to watch, complemented by the beer festival and hog roast, which was excellently organised and added some real feel-good factor about the place in the warm summer sunshine.

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